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    HomeInsightsSearching for the answer?

    Searching for the answer?

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    The collision of the mobile industry and successful internet brands to offer users ISP and search engine-branded  services is now happening at handset level, as the below stories tell. Is it in the interests of the operators to have Yahoo or Google on their handsets? Will it take customers off portal? Does it matter if it does? Is it even primarily about web search, or as much about a recognisable interface for service discovery?  In any case, here are  your starters for what is sure to be a hot theme of 2006.

    READY

    The collision of the mobile industry and successful internet brands to offer users ISP and search engine-branded  services is now happening at handset level, as the below stories tell. Is it in the interests of the operators to have Yahoo or Google on their handsets? Will it take customers off portal? Does it matter if it does? Is it even primarily about web search, or as much about a recognisable interface for service discovery?  In any case, here are  your starters for what is sure to be a hot theme of 2006.

    STEADY

    YAHOO! PARTNERS WITH NOKIA
    Yahoo! has signed a deal with Nokia to launch a service called Go Mobile in ten countries across Asia and Europe. Consumers purchasing select Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia N70 devices will receive Yahoo! Go Mobile pre-installed.
    The deal with mobile carriers in the US (AT&T and Cingular) and with Nokia in the “international market” (ie the rest of the world) brings Yahoo!’s  internet services together in one mobile application.
    In the United States, Yahoo! will launch Yahoo! Go Mobile with AT&T companies and Cingular Wireless. The companies also plan a co-branded AT&T Yahoo! Go Mobile service designed to allow new and existing AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet subscribers to take their internet services with them on their Cingular Wireless mobile device.
    In Europe and Asia the web-client will be installed on “select Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia N70 devices.”
    Marco Boerries, senior vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo!, said the deal would bring internet services to mobile users, and vice versa.
    “Go Mobile is a revolutionary step toward connecting Internet users to their favorite web services on their mobile devices and also making the Internet accessible to millions of consumers around the world who do not have a personal computer,”  Boerries said.
    As well as offering existing internet users the chance to mobilise their services, Yahoo! is offering the ability to register for a new Yahoo! ID directly from a mobile device.

    GO

    Motorola and Google have announced an alliance to enable users access to Google on Motorola handsets.
    Motorola will integrate a Google icon onto select devices so that users can connect directly to Google with one click. The mass-market, “internet-optimised” handsets will be distributed from early 2006 to select Motorola customers worldwide.
    “Many of our customers have been asking for mobile devices integrated with their consumers’ favorite online search services. By featuring Google on Motorola handsets for those customers, we are making it easier for consumers to connect to the information they need when they need it,” said Scott Durchslag ,corporate vp and general manager of global xProducts for Motorola’s Mobile Device business. “Our relationship with Google provides an opportunity for us to offer a high quality mobile search experience – one familiar to and loved by millions of users across the globe”
    “Access to information is imperative for people on-the-go. Whether checking the local weather or locating the restaurant of their choice, consumers today require personalised search services that are tailored to their needs, ” said Nikesh Arora, vice president, European Operations, Google. “With immediate access to Google, millions of Motorola users worldwide will be able to quickly and easily find information that’s important to them..”
    Motorola handsets with the Google icon are expected to be available to consumers starting in Q1 of 2006.

    But hold on a minute…

    risks OF brand dilution
    Following Motorola and Google’s announcement, Mike Brady, senior director of business development at enterprise search company FAST, has warned operators and manufacturers that getting into bed with branded search companies is a risky business.
    Brady said, “The mobile industry must seriously think through the implications. Google isn’t just a search engine— it’s now a global brand right up there with Coca-Cola. By partnering with Google, Motorola is allowing its own brand to be diluted — it might seem a smart move in the short-term, but this will definitely impede future business models and revenue potential.
    “A carrier that doesn’t want Google on the handset could instruct Motorola to take it off — but in the event that the carrier doesn’t care to control the search brand, Motorola has just lost the opportunity to extend their own brand with eg. “Motorola Search” via a white label search solution.
    “The power of the Google brand is beginning to threaten the business models of companies in a myriad of industries. Mobile operators have to recognise this threat and deploy a search solution that protects their data services revenues from Google, and provides a user experience more closely aligned with the brand and content of their own business.”